Eternal adulation should be offered regarding the Word of God in Psalm 119. This morning I found three verses which struck me in particular:
The first is [Psa 119:129 KJV] PE. Thy testimonies [are] wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.
David Guzik has this to say, “Testimonies(edut/edot, used 23 times): This word is related to the word for witness. To obey His testimonies ‘…signifies loyalty to the terms of the covenant made between the Lord and Israel.’ (Willem VanGemeren)”
The Psalmist is keeping testimonies because they are wonderful. It just struck me because in Independent Baptist circles we CAN be very hard and preach that we keep the testimonies because we should or it is right. Keeping is an obligation for which you cannot do anything else. I agree with those thoughts. But it’s better when it is not solely obligatory, but also because of how wonderful the testimonies are to us.
The second is [Psa 119:140 KJV] Thy word [is] very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.
Loving the Word of God because it is “very pure.” Again, we can love the word for its verity or power or because it speaks to us the truth, but loving it for its purity takes my mind in another direction. Why would I love it for its purity?
Spurgeon, as usual, wrote it better than I could, “It is truth distilled, holiness in its quintessence. In the word of God there is no admixture of error or sin. It is pure in its sense, pure in its language, pure in its spirit, pure in its influence, and all this to the very highest degree—’very pure.’”
I have never found that reading the words of God ever caused me to sin or go to some dark place in my life. It is not like TV, movies, music, internet, social media, friends, family, other Christians, periodicals, e-mails and the list could go on. All of those may have some fine, truthful things but there is always a chance that there could be some error. That is not the case with the word of God.
I do not argue about the KJV vs other versions, but I MUST ADMIT that when reading the KJV, I do not feel like I am missing anything. It will not lead me astray and I will have the most powerful verses on the Trinity, Baptism etc included in the text. I cannot say that about modern versions.
One reason I love the word is because of its purity, I can always trust it.
We have seen in 119:129, keeping the testimonies because they are wonderful and in v140 loving the word for it purity. I’ll admit, in my mind, I would keep the word because its pure and love the testimonies because they are wonderful. But thankfully, God writes the Bible and I do not.
The third is [Psa 119:141 KJV] I [am] small and despised: [yet] do not I forget thy precepts.
No, this is not me poor-mouthing myself. My immediate comment to myself this morning was that “I should be” small and despised, meaning that I should not have the thought that I am something to be admired or I should not think that I have to be big in the eyes of man.
My attention was first drawn to the word “small.” Larry Pierce in his “Outline of Biblical Usage” categorizes it as being “little, insignificant, young.” The first usage of it in the Bible is found the in the sordid account of Lot and his daughters in Gen 19.31ff where a record takes place of a conversation between the eldest daughter and the “younger.”
[Gen 25:23 KJV] And the LORD said unto her, Two nations [are] in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and [the one] people shall be stronger than [the other] people; and the elder shall serve the younger.[H6810]
Let’s look at this in a few contexts. Like many Independent Baptist churches, we have a good number of older saints who are in the category of “old enough to be my mom or dad” …I’m 51. As their pastor and preacher, they probably have to resist the temptation to pat me on the head and say, “bless your heart.” Most of what I will preach to them, they have likely heard in one form or another over the years that they have been attending church. It is a real question as to whether I can teach them anything because of the age and experience gap. I take that, though as a positive. I have SO much to learn. There are so many things in my life that I have yet to grasp and get hold of because of the fact that they have not come within my reach. I am younger. I could be offended and hurt that I could be looked upon as a newby but in reality, it is better for me to realize the blessing of continuing to learn and NOT having all the experience. There are some things I know because I have done them over and over and over again. But there are some things I have not done because I have not arrived at the time to do them. It is a blessing to have all of this experience and it drives me to make sure that I am feeding them with things that will help them. It has helped me to mature, knowing I cannot always be a fool. Its a balance because I also have younger people for whom I could be the much older brother or even THEIR dad (yikes).
I am small. In church world/buddy politics land, I am small potatoes. I like it that way. I have no desire to preach at a conference or be a headline speaker. There have been occasions where I have preached for a friend in the ministry, but nothing major. It isn’t just because of my lack of self-confidence, but because of my learned understanding that I thrive being unseen. Most preachers are not the headliners. Look at the Sword of the LORD national conference, most, if not all of the preachers, are from big churches or are prominent evangelists. Many of these men have been preaching the same conferences over and over and over again. In that world, Big is better. How many times have I heard about ministries having “Big Days”? How many times do they use the word “Great”? All it adds up to is people saying, “Look at me!” How does that mesh with “I am small”? Do any of these big time preachers actually think they are small in the eyes of the world? Further, what are they trying to be in the eyes of the world. The verse comes to mind…
[Mat 6:27 KJV] Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
Yes, I know I am taking the verse out of context. But if the goal is bigness for the preacher and the ministry then how Godly is that preacher?
Further, how good are large ministries for the individual christian? Sure, they offer more bells and whistles, more opportunities for an individual to be served, more opportunities for corruption and unspirituality. I am getting off track so I will leave this here.
Saying, I am small tells a lot about the mind of the person intoning those words. It means that he thinks he is not worth considering.
Spurgeon said, “His enemies made no account of him, regarded him as a man without power or ability, and therefore looked down upon him. He appears to accept the situation and humbly take the lowest room, but he carries God’s word with him.”
Thomas Manton listed the following as to why God would make someone small:
- That they may know their happiness is not in this world, and so the more long for heaven, and delight in heavenly things.
- It is necessary to cut off the provisions of the flesh and the fuel of their lusts. A rank soil breeds weeds; and when we sail with a full stream we are apt to be carried away with it.
- That they may be more sensible of his displeasure against their sins and scandalous carriage by which they have dishonoured him, and provoked the pure eyes of his glory.
- That they may learn to live upon the promises, and learn to exercise suffering graces; especially dependence upon God, who can support us without a temporal, visible interest.
- That God may convince the enemies that there is a people that do sincerely serve him, and not for carnal, selfish ends: Job 1.
- That his glory may be more seen in their deliverance; and therefore, before God doth appear for his children, he bringeth them very low.
I go back to my first thought in reading that verse, “I need to be.” Not, I need to be self-deprecating but that I need to have a heart that does not think that I am worthy of anything in this life or the next. As far as I know, the plan is still to cast my crown at Jesus’ feet and not leave it on my own head. Christ is the big deal. He is great and greatly to be praised as he fills all things. Why be big? If I were a big shot among Christians would that detract from them looking at Christ? Better to be low and raised up than to take a chief seat and be told to come down. And while you are down there, the Psalmist reminds us, “yet do I not forget thy precepts.” Even being small, I still have things that I am to do for God. Yes, I must obey and do and serve, no matter how small I am.
Let’s keep running with the footmen
JPA
2 Cor 4:5-7
